Athletes and Sleep Apnea Article

Posted at 5:28 pm on 07/30/2015

Athletes and
Apnea: Finding the Common Link

By Gina Roberts-Grey

Obstructive sleep apnea affects as
many as 22 million American men, women and kids, according to the American
Sleep Apnea Association. And while certain risk factors such as smoking or
having a family history of the disorder can increase the odds, a 2003 study
published in The New England Journal of Medicine links being an
athlete with sleep apnea.

According to the study, pro football
players in the United States are five times more likely to develop sleep apnea
than their non-athletic counterparts. Those at the highest risk were
linebackers and defensive players charged with stopping quarterbacks and
rushers alike—34 percent of these athletes experience sleep apnea, the study
noted.

Not only can sleep apnea—which can
leave sufferers feeling fatigued or sleep-deprived—impact sleeping quality, the
study noted it also can wreak havoc on the gridiron. Players with sleep apnea
had lower reaction time of as much as 11 percent, according to the study.

So what’s the link between sleep
apnea and typically healthy athletes?

Athletes may be in peak physical
condition, but having a “thick” neck—something that comes with excessive
weightlifting as well as carrying the extra pounds needed to push people around
the football field—is one of the risk factors for sleep apnea, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. That’s because the
National Institutes of Health says all the extra tissue (muscle or fat) on the
neck can thicken the wall of the windpipe, making it harder for the airway to
stay open when the body is relaxed.

Like football players, wrestlers and
other muscular athletes who carry extra weight are at risk for health concerns
related to sleep apnea, including high blood pressure, stroke and other
life-threatening issues.

Many athletes are affected—Upon his
retirement from the NBA, basketball great Shaquille O’Neal announced via a YouTube
video that he had been diagnosed with sleep apnea.